Page 18 of Ruthless

My eyes drifted to a sack sitting on a chair in the kitchen, full of clothes for Rachel. Linley had made it her mission to ensure that Rachel didn’t have to wear her bloody clothing, and while I didn’t blame her for doing it, I wondered what all was said between them. I’d yet to go down there since Linley had worked on her, seeing on the cameras that Rachel had taken a shower and crawled into bed…

Naked.

Fuck.

The cameras were pretty grainy, and I was a gentleman, but I swear I would’ve punched the lights out of one of my brothers had they seen it. I wanted to make hermine,and had she not been so damn beat up…

I would have.

And that was something Viper could never know—not right now anyway.

“Okay, so we’ll give it, what? A week?” Gunner’s voice brought me back to the conversation. “That should be enough time to get Chaz wondering what the fuck is going on, and then we’ll give him a call… andthen,we’ll look at our other options. Gotta keep your head, Viper. I know you’re worried about Charlie, but…,” Gunner didn’t finish, only shaking his head. We all knew how attached he was to the underworld leader.

And I just knew it wasn’t healthy.

I saw the guys out the door, making plans for Gunner to come back and install more cameras the following day, and then I finished locking up for the night. Once that was done, I took a long shower, trying to wash off the fuckery and temptation that Rachel brought out of me.

There’s nothing special about her. She’s just another woman.

That’s what I told myself as I grabbed the sack, heading to the basement door. But it didn’t stick, and I knew it wouldn’t. I had done a lot of hard jobs, and watched over a lot more dangerous, threatening people in my lifetime. However, to most men, maybe she would be nothing—she’s not even a fast runner—but to me…

I was almost certain she might be my undoing.

Just don’t fuck her.

My hand pushed open the door, the dim lights barely enough to keep me from falling face first down the steps. I didn’t want to lose my patch, not for something like fucking a woman I kidnapped. I had caused more than enough bloodshed when it came to the club, and it wouldn’t take much to throw me right under the bus.

Because that’s what they did when they ripped your patches.

You were either framed for something and thrown in jail, or you were six feet underground in the middle of the desert. I had no desire to face either of those, so I wouldhaveto keep my shit together.

Or at least not get caught.

My footsteps were heavy as I made my way to the bed, where Rachel was sleeping. She heard me coming before I actually made it there, and she shot up, her eyes flying open at the sight of me. Her bandaged hand grabbed for the covers, pulling them around herself.

“I brought you these, princess.” I sat the sack on the bed. “They’re nothing special, so don’t get too excited.”

She eyed me and then the sack. “Clothes?”

“No, a puppy.”

Her eyes flickered with a hint of something, but then she shook her head and snatched it up, peering inside. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Doc got them for you,” I said carefully. The last thing I needed was for her to think of me as anything other than a fucking beast. She needed to fear me so what happened in the woods wouldn’t happen again.

She looked up at me as I turned to head back for the stairs. “You’re leaving?”

I froze at the words—did she want me to stay? “Yeah, I am.” My tone was gruff, fighting against the pull to her. “I’ll be back when it’s time to check your stitches.”

And then I left her there.

Because I was keeping my fucking patch.

Chapter 9

Rachel

Something shifted in him after he washed my feet, and normally, I wouldn’t be worried about some guy going from wanting to fuck me to acting like touching me might make him throw up, but… I had nothing better to do.

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